Made it to North Ave. (that's 10)

Useless shagging iPhone GPS means I don't know my exact time but I hit the North Ave bridge at 1 hour 12 minutes and increased my pace until about Mile 8. I know it was 10 miles +.

I have let work make me think it's a priority lately and, therefore, blew off training. Started drinking beers in the evening. Not acting like my healthy self.

So I'm glad this run got uncomfortable and scary for a bit. I loved watching the women's Olympic marathon this morning. Kara and Shalane's friendship and toughness, the Russian killing it to catch up to the Africans' lead pack, the rain, the stupid laps course, the terrible, misogynistic all-male commentary. It all made the women more obviously triumphant.

Thank god it properly inspired me and I didn't take it for granted. I set off late and the sun was real high and hot. I just did the usual course and prayed I'd want to go further. I kept thinking "notice when it goes from easy to uncomfortable to hard." I thought I could do 10 this morning if it didn't get hard until after the turnaround.

And it was okay and actually comfortable beyond Belmont. Then I just wanted to see the bridge. I thought I could hang in there if I saw it. But you cannot see it at all until you're there. Now I know.

The second I got to the bridge GPS said "5 miles. 1 hour 20 minutes. Pace 12 (something)." (The time can't be right but I wanted to have hit 5 miles by there and did.) I did one of those celebratory elbow pumping gestures like from 80s movies and kind of said 'yes!' under my breath.

Then I crossed over the bridge, dodged geese along the zoo canal, and wound my way back to Fullerton and the path.

It was a long road home and the idiot GPS abandoned me. But I got into a, kind of, fun mental oblivion for a while. Now I'm not way behind the Higdon plan and can try to re-commit to the training schedule.

There's still no secret to it and no shortcuts. You have to get your miles in. You have to appreciate the moment where your eyes go dead and you feel yourself covered in sandy, caked salt so that you are now 70% onion ring. (U-S-A! U-S-A!)